Mom sues Chicago Public Schools, alleges daughter was racially bullied, sexually assaulted at school

In a lawsuit, Sher’Ron Hinton claims Chicago Public Schools was fully aware of the situation but neglected to properly act.

A Chicago mother is suing the city’s public school system after her daughter experienced what she claims was “extreme” racial bullying and sexual misconduct, as school officials did nothing to curb the abuse.

During a press conference on Wednesday, July 16, Sher’Ron Hinton, along with her attorneys, shared that her daughter, now 13-years-old, became a target because she was the only Black student in her class when she attended Wildwood Elementary School from fifth through seventh grade, starting in 2022 through this Spring, CBS News reported. 

“The school officials minimized, obfuscated and covered up what was going on to Jenny’s mother, to the point where she had to press and press and press to find out the truth of what was happening at this school,” said Hinton’s attorney, Jamaal Buchanan of the Disparti Law Group.

According to the lawsuit, Hinton’s daughter was subjected to bullying that included taunts, name-calling, racial slurs, body-shaming, multiple instances of physical violence, and sexual assault. Hinton claims her daughter, whose identity is being protected, was even encouraged to harm herself by her peers. Several of the incidents, including one where multiple students were given in-school suspension for calling her the n-word, resulted in retaliation from her peers or were outright blamed on her by school officials. 

“She was subjected to extreme bullying by other students, including calling her fat, ugly, a whore [and], ‘why did you come to this school? I’m trying to kill you. You’re shaped like an egg, shaped like a football.’ And all of this was done because she was Black,” Buchanan said. 

Hinton further alleges that in 2022, her daughter was touched inappropriately and hit by another student before she was struck again by another student. She claims the incidents were downplayed as “friendship issues” by the school, and she wasn’t fully clued in to their plan to address the situation. She also has named two physical education teachers in the suit, claiming one rubbed his genitals against her daughter’s back. During another incident, the other allegedly hit her with a clipboard or a rolled-up paper.

The years of abuse, first uncovered in a lengthy report by the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ in June, have also had their adverse effects on the girl. According to her mother and attorneys, she began exhibiting signs of depression and suicidal ideation in school, which they claim school officials also downplayed. Hinton said her daughter has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress following her years at the school and is undergoing counseling. 

The lawsuit, which also names the Chicago School Board, the Wildwood principal, and the assistant principal, seeks monetary damages of at least $50,000 and hopes to change the way Chicago Public Schools are required to handle bullying and inform parents.

“They saw the signs, they had the reports, and still they did nothing,” Hinton said. “This wasn’t a lack of awareness, it was a lack of action.”